Armley takeaway: Alcohol licence approved despite local concerns

An application to sell alcohol at a Chinese and Thai takeaway in Armley has been approved by Leeds City Council – despite some local opposition.

Councillors sitting on the licensing sub-committee approved Mr Hui Yu Lin bid to sell alcohol from his Oriental Star takeaway six days a week between 5pm and 11pm.

But approval came with a number of conditions attached. They included:

Good-quality CCTV to be kept for 31 days

Proof of age – people who look under 21 will need to show identification and staff will be trained to enforce this

Premises shall remain food, not alcohol led

Notice to be displayed in shop prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in street outside

In a report compiled by council licensing officers, it was noted that Mr Lin’s takeaway in Armley Ridge Road is outside the parts of Armley covered by a policy limiting the number of premises that can sell alcohol.

At the Civic Hall meeting this morning, Mr Lin said 95% of his trade was via home delivery and that the impact on the shop itself would be minimal.

10 letters of objection came from local residents, councillors and MP Rachel Reeves, who argued there were already too many places to buy alcohol in Armley and that another outlet could lead to more problems with anti-social behaviour.

One local resident was at the hearing to argue against the application. None of the politicians were in attendance.

Sub committee member Cllr Ryk Downes (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) said the panel believed it was meeting licensing law in terms of protecting children and tackling anti-social behaviour:

“When we consider applications we have to meet national licensing criteria. By adding these conditions we will meet that criteria but if it is brought to our attention that they [the applicant] are not meeting them the licence can be revoked.”